"Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." -- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The text:
(NET) Romans 1:8 First of all,21 I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel22 of his Son, is my witness that23 I continually remember you 10 and I always ask24 in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God.2511 For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift26 to strengthen you, 12 that is, that we may be mutually comforted by one another’s faith,27 both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware,28 brothers and sisters,29 that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles.3014 I am a debtor31 both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 Thus I am eager32 also to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.33

22 tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”23 tn Grk “as.”24 tn Grk “remember you, always asking.”25 tn Grk “succeed in coming to you in the will of God.”

26 sn Paul does not mean here that he is going to bestow upon the Roman believers what is commonly known as a “spiritual gift,” that is, a special enabling for service given to believers by the Holy Spirit. Instead, this is either a metonymy of cause for effect (Paul will use his own spiritual gifts to edify the Romans), or it simply means something akin to a blessing or benefit in the spiritual realm. It is possible that Paul uses this phrase to connote specifically the broader purpose of his letter, which is for the Romans to understand his gospel, but this seems less likely.

27 tn Grk “that is, to be comforted together with you through the faith in one another.”

28 sn The expression “I do not want you to be unaware [Grk ignorant]” also occurs in 1 Cor 10:1; 12:1; 1 Thess 4:13. Paul uses the phrase to signal that he is about to say something very important.

29 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

30 tn Grk “in order that I might have some fruit also among you just as also among the rest of the Gentiles.”

31 tn Or “obligated.”

32 tn Or “willing, ready”; Grk “so my eagerness [is] to preach…” The word πρόθυμος (prothumos, “eager, willing”) is used only elsewhere in the NT in Matt 26:41 = Mark 14:38: “the spirit indeed is willing (πρόθυμος), but the flesh is weak.”

Paul: This is who I am -- "a bondservant of Christ Jesus".What has God [life, politics, experience, etc] done in you?

Paul: This is my “Life Message” -- “by God's Grace set apart for the gospel of God”What are you called to?

Paul: This is the “Center” of my life -- “Jesus Christ our Lord”Who directs you [or] What is the center of your life?

Paul: This is who I am called to -- “all the Gentiles… To all in Rome”Who are you called to [or] who are the people you can influence?

Questions to answer

Do you think our “faith” should be “reported all over the world”? Why or why not?

What do you think about the way we pray for people—as you read Paul’s comments about praying for the Romans?

Do you think we should be “mutually encouraged by each other’s faith”? How?

Do you see yourself as “obligated” (“a debtor”) to anyone because you are a Christian [or for any other reason]?

Looking ahead:

In what way is “the gospel . . . the power of God”?

What do you think “a righteousness from God” means?

My comments: Hopefully you are listening to the messages. This will not only give you some real knowledge about how a particular pastor at a particular church teaches from the Word of God -- and by extention either confirm or lay waste to any pre- (or mis-) conceptions about what Evangelical Christians really believe, teach, focus on, etc.

However, I know most of you are not - which is fine. You should, however, listen to this one. It has a practical method for examining scripture and moving its message practically into your life. This is not just Christian scripture, or really just scripture in general, but really any thing you read where you might draw lessons for your own life and actions.